Site In the Holliston, MA. Woods- Effigies, Cairns, Ledges, Stone Row & More

Site In the Holliston, MA. Woods- Effigies, Cairns, Ledges, Stone Row & More

Here is a site from the Holliston, MA. woods near the middle part of town.  The site is next to a swamp on slightly elevated ground from the wetland.

Where to begin on this one.... how about with this propped boulder placement, which is actually a worked-out stone statue/ effigy.  It resembles a similar profile rock I saw from a few posts back that was on a ledge in Bellingham, MA.  It is also similar to a feature from an upcoming site from the same area I will be posting about soon. 

View A of the propped boulder placement/ stone statue.  Note the head profile and the body.  Sort of "Sphinx"-like (anthropamorphized) with an upwards gaze.  This was located at the end of a stone row and I had to clear away some brush to see this feature:

View B- looking down at the statue, showing off how the back of the body has been worked-out:

View C, similar to A:

A cairn/ stone feature located around a ledge:

Stone row at an upward incline.  Note the Standing Stone to the left of the row, with a possible worn-out turtle inscription from what I can see:

More of the stone row at an upward incline:

The stone row at a downward incline, going into a swamp where this section of the wall terminates.  What is that glittering stone at the end of the row?....... 

.....It just so happens to be a Turtle Effigy Stone.  A perfect carving of a turtle.  Obviously this turtle is a great power in this area.  Note that this stone is different from the other rocks in this stone row- in fact, it looks like the same white-like stone material that some of the Stone Faces from Milford, MA. were made from featured in recent posts: 

Unusually-shaped boulder #1, looking like a placement for something:

Unusually-shaped boulder #2:

Unusually-shaped/ placed boulder #3:

Cairn/ ledge/ profile rock (profile to the left) View A:

B, other side  :/

Small, low-to-the gorund, partly buried Standing Stone with a well-defined tip and base:

Cairn:

Another low-to the ground cairn with a white quartz stone capping it:

Cairn, View A:

Cairn, View B.  Note the pale bucket in the background, a feature worthy of attention indicating a colonial/ later Native presence at this site (there are reasons why this is said): 

Another Cairn:

Stone slab placement:

Unusually-shaped boulder #4:

Propped boulder, possible effigy view A.  This looks like another Turtle Effigy placed at the edge of the swamp.  This one looks like it could have been a place to make an offering, compared to the smaller turtle idol at the end of the stone row:

View B, showing off the "abstract" face profile.  This looks like very turtle-like: 

A ledge-stone, which appears to be either placed at this site or at least modified.  I strongly feel that this ledge-stone is the point of some observation and must have been used as a platform:

Another view of the ledge-stone: